Each week you can expect to learn What’s New here on Greenroofs.com through our “This Week in Review” video.  Here is the transcript from February 3rd, 2012 with an overview from the beginning of the new year from our daughter, Anjuli – click on the photo below to see the video, or here.  Enjoy!

- Hello, I’m Anjuli Velázquez and after a short hiatus, welcome back to This Week in Review!  First of all, we here at Greenroofs.com wish all of you a very healthy and prosperous New Year, and hope you’re off to a great start in 2012!

This is not only a “This Week in Review” for February 3rd, 2012, but also pretty much a “This Month in Review for January 2012,” here on GreenroofsTV.

- Projects of the Week

-  Our project of the week is the Private Brussels Residence Vertical Garden & Greenroof built in 2006 in Brussels, Belgium. The architect of the private home is Philippe Samyn with Patrick Blanc as the botanist and designer of the Vertical Garden Wall. Construction took eight years with one year of fine-tuning the plant selection and as a result, the four-story house is covered completely in plants on three sides, plus the roof. It was Patrick Blanc’s first opportunity to design an entire house in vegetation, including the rooftop. Patrick had to carefully select the numerous plant species for the lush semi-circular facade form, keeping in mind sun patterns and micro climates. Water is collected from the rooftop edges and used for irrigation and is supplemented by a well; also, any runoff is recycled.

To learn more about the Private Brussels Residence Vertical Garden & Greenroof, designed by the internationally famously fascinating Patrick Blanc, click on our project of the week photo on our homepage (or on the above photo).

- Read about the following Projects of the Week that we’ve featured since my last “This Week in Review” – find them in  Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database using their profile ID # below each photo (or click on the photo):

- December 26 & 19, 2011: Tremco Incorporated Headquarters #1371

- January 2, 2012: Delft University of Technology Library #534

- January 9, 2012: Heritage Flight #1253

- January 16, 2012: Queens Botanical Garden Visitor and Administration Center #653

- January 23, 2012:  Arbroath Abbey Visitor Centre #79

What’s New

- Watch our Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 Episode 8: Panel Presentation “The Portland Ecoroof Program: A Cross-section of the Green Roof Movement in Portland, Oregon” with Tom Liptan, Matt Burlin, Amy Chomowicz, Casey Cunningham, and Alice Meyers.  If you haven’t already, check out these first 7 episodes on our greenroofsTV page and on YouTube:

Episode 7: “Constructing Gardens in the Sky” by Terry McGlade

Episode 6: “Sky Meadows – Integrating People and Nature: Sustainable Green Roofs and Roof Gardens” by Dr. Nigel Dunnett

Episode #5: “Greenroofs & Walls for Educational & Social Equity in the Bronx” Panel Session with New York State Senator Gustavo Rivera, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Robert Bieder, Jon Beuttler, Jess Dannhauser, Javier Lopez and Steve Ritz

Episode #4: Keynote Address “CSR, Corporate Social Responsibility – The Who, What, Where, When and How” by Ralph Velasquez

Episode #3: “CDA Leads the Way for Incorporating Green Roof Space in an Airport Environment” by Rosemarie Andolino

Episode #2:  2011 Top 10 Hot Trends in Greenroof & Greenwall Design by Haven Kiers and Linda Velazquez

Episode #1: Opening Keynote Address  “A New Place” by Charlie Miller

- Don’t forget: the 2012 Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ 12 Month Wall Calendar is still available for purchase – now at the discounted rate of $9.95, so order yours today!

- Advertiser Press Releases:

- Xero Flor Green Roof Products Receives Cradle to Cradle Certification for Environmental Stewardship.

- Green Living Technologies International – New Jersey Farm to School Network announces Winter Conference – It Takes a Village: Collaborations in Good Food and School Gardens.

- Sika Sarnafil announces that the United States Postal Service NY – the Largest Vegetated Green Roof in New York City – has won the 2011 RoofPoint™ Excellence in Design Awards.

- SKYLAND USA, LLC – rooflite® Announces Launch of New Spanish Website: www.techosvegetales.com.

- RUBBERMASTER/A & A Melters are approved by Material Manufacturers.

- Green Roof Technology introduces the ‘Sun-Root’ Living Roof System – Green Roofs embrace Renewable Solar Energy.

- GLTi Green Training Course Added at the State University New York (SUNY) Ulster.

- Tremco Roofing and Building Maintenance Adhesive added to BioPreferred Program.

-  Joblinks Update

- LiveRoof is now hiring a Sales Specialist – Wisconsin in Spring Lake, Michigan, USA.

- Prides Corner Farms (a LiveRoof® Licensed Grower) is looking for a Green Roof Sales Specialist in the Metro NY area.

- Guest Feature

- Read Todd Skopic’s guest feature article, “All-Aboard the Greenroof Ship at the U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters.”

- Industry News Update

-   This week, the NRDC released a new report on how local and state governments can stimulate potentially billions of dollars of private investment, to offset the costs of repairing our nation’s broken stormwater infrastructure. It’s worth a read for policymakers, investors, and anyone who receives a wastewater or stormwater bill from a local utility. The new report, “Financing Stormwater Retrofits in Philadelphia and Beyond,” uses the City of Brotherly Love as a test case to explore how innovative financing mechanisms, currently being used for energy efficiency retrofits, can be adapted to the stormwater management context.

- The Sustainable Sites Initiative™ (SITES™) has announced the first three projects to be certified by the nation’s most comprehensive system for rating the sustainable design, construction and maintenance of built landscapes. The corporate headquarters of an international manufacturing company, a new university green space and a children’s playground in an urban park are the first to be recognized for their sustainable land practices from among 150-plus pilot projects that began the certification process in summer 2010.

- The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) is providing incentive funding to increase green roof coverage within its service area. The Regional Green Roof Initiative will provide up to $5 per square foot of an approved green roof project. The District’s interest in green roofs is to hold rainwater where it falls, thereby diminishing the risk of sewer overflows and improving the overall water quality in the region. In addition to managing stormwater, green roofs offer numerous additional environmental, economic, and social benefits.

- The District Department of the Environment (DDOE) is once again providing rebates, at $5 per square foot, for green roofs to qualified applicants for the third consecutive year. The Anacostia Watershed Society is administering the program for DDOE and believes this is a great opportunity to help people cover some costs of their proposed green roofs as well as an opportunity to reach out to those unfamiliar with this technology all in an effort to help restore the watershed.

- Sky Gardens Blog

- Over at Sky Gardens, check out Linda’s latest posts: our Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 episodes, “Stephen Ritz, South Bronx Educator/ Administrator at TEDx Manhattan ‘Changing the Way We Eat’ Tomorrow!,” “8 House Honored by the AIA,” and our GPWs.  Also read “Current Green Roof Trends in Germany (2011)” by Christine Thuring.

- “Upcoming Events”

- February 2nd-4th: is the 11th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference in San Diego, CA.

- February 7th: is an EPA Green Infrastructure Forum in New York, NY.

- February 8th-9th: is BUILDEX Vancouver at the Vancouver Convention Center in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

- Also February 8th-9th: is Better Buildings By Design Conference 2012 in Burlington, VT.

- February 8th-10th: is ProGreen EXPO 2012 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, CO.

- And February 15th: is the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities class, Green Infrastructure: Policies, Performance and Projects, held at the Southface Institute Eco-Office in Atlanta, Georgia.

- “In the News”

-  Daniel Beekman of the New York Daily News, reports on “Classroom farm at Bronx public high school, Green Bronx Machine, shut down despite fresh successes.” He says that the “celebrated classroom farm that yielded fresh produce and great jobs for students at a South Bronx public high school has been quietly shut down.” For two years, Discovery High School special education teacher, Steve Ritz, used green walls to teach his students about science and technology and how to grow your own vegetables in an urban setting. Lesson plans he developed there are now being used at the college level at the State University of New York. Steve says he’s “disappointed… [and] the kids loved it,” also that the Green Bronx Machine “really took root because it cultivated minds and harvested hope.”

He created the Green Bronx Machine after meeting George Irwin, founder and CEO of Green Living Technologies, and they began growing vegetables while developing a curriculum. Students trained by Irwin even got summer jobs installing green roofs. This program has helped the Bronx students and every one of them who took part in the program has begun college or is on the track to getting there. Senator Gustavo Rivera said, “Steve is a guy who can get people energized about healthy eating…he has proven he can get students to care about school. I hope that continues.” We all hope it does and are confident that Steve will continue his work with the Green Bronx Machine and help even more students.  Check out their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/green.BX.machine.

- Lauren Lloyd of the LAist talks about “From Rooftop to Fork: Downtown LA Club Grows Its Own Greens.” She says, California’s largest urban farming operation, Farmscape, recently wrapped a first-of-its-kind project in Downtown LA. A large rooftop garden, designed to grow fresh organic greens sits on top of The Jonathan Club. The 200-square-foot custom organic garden will produce greens such as snap and snow peas, spinach, arugula, lettuces, a variety of herbs and much more in the winter growing season, as well as fruits like lemons, limes, oranges, and figs. Farmscape and the club are loving their new garden.

Farmscape CEO, Jesse DuBois, says “we’re excited to be able grown the freshest produce possible for The Jonathan Club’s new head chef,” and that “we hope that building this rooftop garden right in the middle of Los Angeles demonstrates that food cultivation can happen almost anywhere.” It can happen almost anywhere, and hopefully other urban restaurants and buildings will follow in their footsteps.

- To learn more about these stories and new ones posted daily, go to our In the News or newslinks section of our website.

-  Send us your green articles, videos and images to editor@greenroofs.com and share your greenroof or green wall info with the world!

- Make sure to keep up with everything Greenroofs.com by following us on Twitter, liking us on Facebook, being a member of our network on LinkedIn, and subscribing to our greenroofsTV channel on YouTube!

- This has been This Week in Review for February 3rd, 2012 on  GreenroofsTV.  I’m Anjuli Velázquez and I’ll see next week!

*This week’s episode is sponsored by The Greenroof Directory, brought to you by Greenroofs.com.*

Did we miss something?  We’d love to hear from you!

~ Linda V.

Are you sick of having to wait a whole year to learn about the latest and greatest greenroof trends?  Well, wait no longer!  We have decided to launch a column dedicated solely to showcasing the most chic, most hip, most creative greenroofs and living walls from around the world.

Twice a month, Linda and I will take turns profiling built projects, noteworthy ideas, competitions, and interesting people in the industry – plus some fun ones thrown in as well.

As always, no project is too small to catch our eyes or garner attention.  From chicken coops (see below) to football stadiums, we want to highlight it all and bring these projects the attention they deserve.

We all know by now that living architecture is good for us and the environment.  Our goal for this blog is to raise it up from its status as the cauliflower of the meal and transform it to the foie gras.  We’re calling it: Chic Sustainability Watch: Trends, Projects & People.

And we would love your help.  Do you know of any particularly cool green roof or living walls projects in the news that are as aesthetically pleasing as they are environmentally friendly?  Send them in to us!

INAUGURAL CHIC SUSTAINABILITY WATCH: CHICKENS & URBAN AG

For our inaugural column, I’ve decided to focus on two trends that score high marks on the chic sustainability front – chickens and urban agriculture.  Combine them with a hipper than hip green roof and suddenly you have the object of an eco-warrior’s dreams: a sustainable chicken coop that produces its own fertilizer for crops growing on its roof.

The number of green roof chicken coops that have been constructed is astounding. Do a quick Google image search and you’ll be amazed by how many of our feathered friends live under the naturally climate controlled confines of a green roof. Designs vary from rustic and simple to sleek and modern. Here are some that fall into the latter category.

HEN HEDGE

The winner of a design competition by Sera Architects to build “the perfect chicken coop,” Hen Hedge combines an open rectangular structure with a vegetated roof and living wall.  The result is a stylish hen house that provides shade to its occupants and blends into the surrounding landscape.  The one of a kind coop by Gary Gola + Jeanie Lai was auctioned off at a gala benefitting the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art.

KIPPEN HOUSE

Love the idea of a contemporary green roof chicken coop, but not quite ready to harness your inner DIY goddess?  Kippen House may be just the coop for you.  The goal of the coop, according to designer Traci Fontyn, is to “look good, be multi-functional and offer the ability to adapt to the small urban lot.”  And the best part of her design is that the green roof holds 10” of growing medium, enough to grow small vegetables and herbs.

ARCHITECTURE FOR THE MASSES

When architects Mitchell Snyder and Shelley Martin set out to build a coop for their three chickens, they didn’t lower their design standards.  The “residence” is a stunning four foot cube that keeps the ladies warm in the winter and cool in the summer and provides them with enough space for their daily needs.  It also includes a 4-by-15-foot run.  Above it, the green roof is planted with native Oregon sedums.

GREEN ROOF CHICKEN COOP

“We started out selling our plans to neighbors, they convinced us to start our website…”  So begins the copy at greenroofchickencoop.com, a website that sells two types of chicken coops, a “green roof chicken coop” (4’ wide by 4.5’ deep with 16 sf of growing area) and an “herb garden chicken coop” (3.5’ wide by 8’ long with 28 sf of growing area).  The best part is that aspiring urban chicken farmers can choose how much of the work they want to do themselves; customers can purchase plans, kits, or fully assembled coops.

WIND-POWERED PREFAB CHICKEN COOP

A competition held by the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development called for new and efficient chicken coops.  Winners Peleg/Burshstein Architects and landscape architect Nathan Gulman designed a prefab coop that processes its own waste and is self-powered by renewable energy.  The 200 foot long coop is outfitted with wind turbines, solar panels, and a green roof/living wall.  Water tanks, silos, egg storage, and a waste-treatment system are stored within the coop’s interior.

So, have these five green roofed chicken coops inspired you to go out and design one of your own?  Remember, everyone deserves the opportunity to surround themselves with chic sustainability, including your chickens!!

Until next time,

Haven
designeditor@greenroofs.com

Well, folks, it’s that time of year again – the end of 2011 – when we start looking ahead and planning for the next!

What better way to stay up to date with greenroof and greenwall happenings around the world than with our brand new 2012 Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ 12 Month Wall Calendar?  Now in our fifth year of publishing, the Calendar combines two of our most popular destinations on Greenroofs.com: The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database and Upcoming Events.

We’re very happy with the beautiful projects highlighted and hope you will be, too.  See the Press Release here.

The 2012 Calendar has 78 events posted from across the globe and the cover features the luscious, top to bottom plant-enveloped Private Brussels Residence Vertical Garden & Greenroof by Patrick Blanc and Philippe Samyn.  Inside you’ll find full color glossy photos of projects from Honolulu, Long Island City, Chicago, Culpeper, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Atlanta, San Francisco, Delft, New York City, Beachwood, and Baltimore.

Special thanks go to our participating Sponsors of the 2012 Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Calendar:  Barrett Company, Green Living Technologies, Green Roof Blocks, GreenGrid, International Leak Detection, LiveRoof, rooflite®, Roofmeadow, Saul Nurseries, Tremco, Xero Flor America, and ZinCo-USA.

And thanks to these Greenroofs.com’s Sponsors who weren’t featured this year - American Hydrotech and Conservation Technology - but whose support also makes our website possible (along with all of you who are listed in The Greenroof Directory)!

By the way, if you’d like to see all the previous years’ calendar projects, click here.

The 2012 Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Calendar will make a perfect holiday gift for you, your staff, and your green architecture like-minded friends and family, so order now in time for all the upcoming holidays and the new year.

Enjoy and happy greening!

~ Linda V.

As I wrote about yesterday, today we are airing the Opening Keynote Address video by Charlie Miller from our Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit on greenroofs.tv and our GreenroofsTV channel on YouTube.

Charlie Miller, P.E. and principal of Roofmeadow (formerly Roofscapes, Inc.), has been a mentor and inspiration to me since my early days as a landscape architecture student who had “discovered” greenroofs in 1997/98.  It was a no-brainer for me to choose Charlie as our opening keynote speaker – to honor his open attitude about information sharing and to share his outlook and expertise with our Virtual Summit audience!

Charlie’s Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 keynote address is titled ”A New Place.”

“After an acquaintance of almost 20 years, Americans may think that they know green roofs.  In fact, there is much left to discover as we colonize the world of the great urban plateau.” ~ Charlie Miller, P.E.

Enjoy!  Visit greenroofs.tv to see “A New Place” here or click below.

We appreciate your feedback, and feel free to contact Charlie directly at: cmiller@roofmeadow.com.

If you’re looking for an overview, make sure to see our 2011 Virtual Summit Highlights video (6:18) and our 2011 Virtual Summit Trailer (2:59).

Check back next week on GreenroofsTV for our 2nd installment from the Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011!

~ Linda V.

We received a lot of positive feedback from attendees participating in our inaugural Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 this past September through October about the very high quality of the speakers we offered for such an affordable price…

…And conversely, a lot of speakers have asked us if their videos would be available afterwards for viewing by the general public – those who did not pay the $49 or $25 to attend.

We certainly do not want all of the Virtual Summit’s speakers’ efforts and great information to go to waste…and we feel that our readership would love to see the content!

So, Greenroofs.com’s plan is to show each of our 4 keynote speakers, 7 panel sessions, and 19 video presentations (plus my opening and closing remarks) in its entirety as we played it at the 2011 Virtual Summit – from everyone who grants us permission.

You can see my Opening Welcome and Overview now, along with the Virtual Summit Highlights Video and the Trailer on greenroofs.tv.  We’ll be showing our Opening Keynote Speaker Charlie Miller as the first featured video tomorrow, on Wednesday, December 7 followed by one or two videos a week thereafter which we’ll highlight on our Homepage.

Once played, each video will remain available to everyone on demand on the greenroofs.tv page and our GreenroofsTV channel on YouTube.  We hope to show everyone what they missed at our inaugural Virtual Summit and create buzz for the 2012 Virtual Summit!

If you didn’t join us for 2011 we hope you will in 2012 – then you won’t have to wait months to see all of the great new keynote, panel, and presentation videos!

We hope you enjoy each of the 32 videos and use them in the future for your reference – we’re very proud of the wonderful collaborations from around the world.  Please share with your greenroof and greenwall colleagues.

Happy greening ~

Linda V.

It’s hard to believe another year has gone by, but it’s time again for the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities’ 2011 Green Roof & Wall Conference – CitiesAlive 2011. Now in its 9th year, the gracious and increasingly green Philadelphia will be the host city on November 29 through December 3, 2011, held at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown.

Co-hosted by the City of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, CitiesAlive 2011 features over 50 expert design, policy, and research presentations, a trade show with the leaders of the green roof and wall industry, the Awards of Excellence, tours, and more!

This year the theme of the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities‘ Green Roof and Wall Conference is “Restoring Urban Waters” and the City of Philadelphia has committed to investing $2 billion in green infrastructure solutions to stormwater over the next twenty-five years.

Register here and Walk-in Registration is also welcome onsite!  Your Registration options include:

• Full Delegate Pass: $549 / $449 (GRHC member rate), including:

o Access to all expert speaker sessions;
o Access to the trade show;
o Two cocktail receptions, two lunches, and breaks.

• Best Value Package: $648 / $548 (GRHC member rate)

o Full Delegate Pass + Conference Recordings.

• Full-Day Training Courses (Nov. 30): $449 / $375 (Delegate Rate)

o Green Roof Design 101: Introductory Course
o Green Roof Infrastructure: Design and Installation 201
o Green Roof Waterproofing and Drainage 301
o Green Roof Plants and Growing Media 401

• Half-Day Training Courses (Nov. 30): $299 / $249 (Delegate Rate)

o Integrated Water Management for Buildings and Sites II: Case Studies in Performance (Launch!)
o Green Roof Policy Development Workshop
o Introduction to Rooftop Urban Agriculture
o Green Walls 101: Systems Overview and Design (2nd ed.)
o Advanced Green Roof Maintenance
o Integrated Design Workshop (Launch!)
o Integrated Water Management for Buildings and Sites

For more info on training courses, check out the CitiesAlive Detailed Agenda.  There are also these options:

• One Day Pass (Dec. 1 or 2): $249
• Student Pass: $99
• Trade Show Pass: $45
• And More!

Remember that Green Roofs for Healthy Cities is an approved provider of continuing education through LA CES, USGBC/GBCI, AIA CES and RCI.

We hope to see you this week in one of the many excellent tours, sessions, Networking Receptions, or on the Trade Show floor – for the first time since 2003 that we’ve been participating in CitiesAlive (formerly Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities), Greenroofs.com will not have a trade show booth.

After the success of our inaugural Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011, we’ve decided to go completely virtual!  Of course, since we are a website, we’re a virtual business anyway and all of our information for both readers and potential advertisers can be found online.

So you’ll see us strolling the Trade Show floor so we can visit with old friends and colleagues and get to know new ones, too.  For those of you looking forward to receiving your copy of our 2012 Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Calendar, look for it by late next week!  We’ll let you know when it’s ready for holiday purchase.

If you’ll be at CitiesAlive this week, make sure to attend Haven Kiers and my session for our awesome “2011 Top 10 List of Hot Trends in Greenroof & Greenwall Design” this Friday, December 2 at the 2:30 – 4:00 pm Session 6 – “6D – From Spiders to Goats: More Extraordinary Projects and Top International Trends” in the INDEPENDENCE CD room.  We’ll be inbetween the lovely Angie Durhman of Tecta America and Louise Clarke of the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania.

Aramis and I will also be taking in two of the tours here – the Center City Section on Wednesday and Greening the Corporate Campus – Sustainability at Work on Saturday.

See you in Philly, the City of Brotherly Love!

~ Linda V.

Have you seen our Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 Highlights Video yet?  It’s fast paced and fun, see:

We put together snippets of 10-15 seconds of all of our speakers – well almost all.  We didn’t include the ones we had previously included in our Trailer Video -namely Xianmin Wang, Lluis Recasens Pahí, and João Manuel Linck Feijó - for time reasons.  But you can still see them in the Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011Trailer Video below:

So, watch the video and get a glimpse of what you would see in our virtual environment.  You still have about a week to register, all the way up until October 28th.  You’ll have access to the expo pavilions and can visit all the exhibitor and associate booths plus see our amazing speakers!

You’ll find the speaker presentations in two places:  The Rare Earth Auditorium, sponsored by Tremco, and the On Demand Auditorium.

The Rare Earth Auditorium is where you’ll find all the presentations that were scheduled live, including our four illustrious Keynote Speakers – Andrew Grant, Charlie Miller, Ed Snodgrass, and Ralph Velasquez – most with the live Q & A Sessions that followed the original playing.  You can still read all the commentary, too.  Here you’ll find:

The On Demand Auditorium hold the presentations for the speakers who were not scheduled live – although in effect, once a presentation played once, they were all on demand.

These include:

We’re very proud of our inaugural Virtual Summit and know you’ll be very pleased, too.  See the Speakers page and Agenda to learn all about each presenter and their presentation or panel session descriptions.

You still can’t beat the price for over 30 individual and panel sessions - only $49 or $25 for students & faculty and government professionals!

Happy Greening,

Linda V.

Greenroofs.com’s Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 is less than a week away!  We’re coming into the homestretch with our Virtual Summit and we certainly hope you will join us!

Watch our short, fun, trailer here (under 3 minutes):

Last week I highlighted international professionals from Germany, Mexico, Canada, Chile, and the U.S., and here is the remaining line-up of wonderful, talented speakers at our inaugural online event, also from countries around the world:

Wolfgang Ansel, Germany: The Director of the International Green Roof Association (IGRA) will present  ”Green Roof Policies – An International Review of Current Practices and Future Trends.”

Caroline Menetre, USA:  The landscape designer, graphic designer, environmental horticulturist, and contributing editor on Greenroofs.com will introduce the “The Vertical Garden – from Nature to Cities – An Interview” with Patrick Blanc.

Matthew Dillon, Australia: The Vice President of GreenRoofs Australasia and member of World Green Infrastructure Network (WGIN) will present “GreenRoofs in Australasia.”

João Manuel Linck Feijó, Brazil: The principal of Ecotelhado, Director of ATVBrasil, and World Green Infrastructure Network (WGIN) board member will present  ”The Work of ATVBrasil.”

Lluis Recasens Pahí, Spain: The Professor of Horticulture at the Institut d´Horticultura i Jardineria de Reus will present “Sustainability in Plant Production.”

Dr. Clayton Rugh, USA: The botanist and biologist and Manager & Technical Director of Xero Flor America will present “One Decade of Ultralight Green Roof Proof-of-Concept on Ford’s Dearborn Truck Plant.”

John Shepley, USA: The engineer, co-founder of Emory Knoll Farms, founding board member of the Baltimore Biodiesel Cooperative, chairman of the Chesapeake Sustainable Business Alliance and contributing editor on Greenroofs.com will present “Sustainability at a Small Business: Emory Knoll Farms.“

Linda Velazquez, ASLA Associate, LEED AP, GRP, USA: The founder, publisher & editor of Greenroofs.com and principal of Sky Gardens Design will co-present the “2011 Top 10 List of Hot Trends in Greenroof & Greenwall Design” with Haven Kiers.

Remember, Government professionals and faculty/students have the special discounted rate of only $25 – that’s for both days plus the 30 days archived on-demand through October 28, 2011.  Other professionals are offered the $49 registration rate.

If you haven’t yet, register today!  Please help us spread the world – tell your colleagues, Twitter followers, Facebook fans, newsletter subscribers, and LinkedIn connections to register here.

I think there’s plenty of room in our relatively close-knit greenroof and wall community to explore new information technologies together and not feel threatened by competition – don’t you?  In fact, don’t you agree we should celebrate each other’s innovations?

This is the social media event of the year!  We need to support each other and continue to find ways to collaborate and share information.  We’re thrilled with the many features we have up our sleeves, and we hope you will be, too.

See you next week!

~ Linda V.

Our Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 is less than two weeks away!

Last week I told you about our seven fantastic panel sessions who you’ll be watching followed by a live Question and Answer session, including:  ”Biodiversity and Green Roofs,” Greenroofs & Walls for Educational & Social Equity in the Bronx,” “The Portland Ecoroof Program: A Cross-section of the Green Roof Movement in Portland, Oregon,” “Vertical Agriculture: A Global Movement Starts Locally, from Walls & Roofs to Table,” “Wind. Water. Heat. Grow. Greenroofs.,” “Greenroofs: Wind & Fire,” and “Green Roofs Without the Hype.”

In addition to our four awesome Keynote Speakers whom we’ve already profiled - Andrew Grant, Charlie Miller, Ed Snodgrass and Ralph Velasquez – and other luminaries previously highlighted, here are more brilliant speakers you will enjoy hearing:

Roland Appl, Germany:  The Technical Director of ZinCo and President of the International Green Roof Association (IGRA) will present “Combining Green Roofs with Photovoltaics.”

Jörg Breuning, USA and Germany:  The principal of Green Roof Technology (Previously Green Roof Service) and co-founder of Green Roof Safari will present “Green Roof Technology Sails Around the World.”

Ignacio Espoz, Chile:  The founder of LatinGreen, Director of the World Green Roof infrastructure Network (WGIN), and Director of the Chilean Association of Green Infrastructure will present “Green Infrastructure in Chile and Innovative Living Walls for Environmental Restoration in Mining of the Atacama Desert.”

Tanya Müller Garcia, Mexico:  The founder of AMENA – Asociación Mexicana para la Naturación de Azoteas – (National Mexican Greenroof Association), Vice-President of WGIN, and Director of Urban Reforestation and Bikeways for the City of Mexico will present “Development of Greenroofs and Walls in Mexico and Latin America.”

Richard Hayden, RLA, ASLA, CLARB, USA:  The landscape architect and Garden Roof Department Manager at American Hydrotech, Inc. will present “Sloped and Complex Green Roofs.”

Haven Kiers, LEED AP, GRP, USA:  The founding partner of GreenSwell Design and Planning, trainer with Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, and contributing editor on Greenroofs.com will co-present the “2011 Top 10 List of Hot Trends in Greenroof & Greenwall Design” with Linda Velazquez.

Terry McGlade, Canada:  The horticulturalist, landscape designer, and founder and President of Gardens in the Sky will present “Constructing Gardens in the Sky.”

Chris Wark, MSME, LEED AP, USA:  The engineer, Senior Energy Analyst for Viridian Energy & Environmental, and contributing editor on Greenroofs.com will present “E = MC2 of Green Roofs: Ranking Energy Benefits by Mission, Climate and Construction.”

Imagine a world of green:
What are we doing to create organic architecture?

Next week I’ll highlight the rest of our stellar cast of greenroof and greenwall professionals and enthusiasts!

See the GGW Virtual Summit Speakers page and Agenda to learn all about each presenter and their presentations or the panel sessions.

You’ve got to admit that you can’t beat the super low registration fee of $99 for September 27 and 28 plus the 30 days archived on demand through October 28 to hear from all of these excellent speakers…

… but we want everyone to qualify for the even lower Associate Rate of only $49 (just type in the name of the non-profit/organization/constituency that you belong when prompted) or the Students/Faculty/Government Professionals Rate of only $25 (state the school/university or government).

And, you’ll be automatically entered for the chance at winning our second Apple iPad2 drawing, announced on September 30, 2011.

Pre-register or learn more by visiting:  virtual.greenroofs.com.

We hope you join us for this very interactive virtual experience – think film festival meets 2-day webinar and online expo extravaganza!

Brought to you by Greenroofs.com, we’d like to thank to our Virtual Summit Sponsors TREMCO (Rare Earth) and American Hydrotech (Emerald) and our Exhibitors, Associates, and Media Partners – make sure to visit them at the Expo Pavilions.

See you online on September 27 & 28, 2011!

~ Linda V.

Just a quick post to remind you to pre-register for the Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 by midnight tonight EDT to qualify for the half-off price of only $49 ($25 for students/faculty and government professionals).

PEOPLE: Creative thinkers, innovators, and trailblazers sharing project-focused organic “vegitecture”

PROJECTS: International icons of sustainability:  early successes + current & visionary profiles of excellence in design

DESIGN: Proven standards of diverse green technologies + dynamic and cutting edge designs for greening the planet with building integrated greenery:  bioclimatic, biodiversity, biomimicry & chic sustainability

This gives you full access to all the presentations, panel sessions, Expo Pavilion booths, Sponsor Meeting Rooms, Networking Lounge, Media Lounge and all your Social Collaboration Network (SCN) online video, audio, and text chatting on both September 27 and 28 and 30 days archived on demand through October 28!

As I’ve said before, we’re really giving away two iPad2’s to registrants and attendees.  But increase your chances by pre-registering now and to become eligible for the first drawing, announced tomorrow, September 9, 2011 at noon.

One random winner will be chosen from the Early Bird Registrations and one from attendees who have been the most active using the (SCN) during the Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 on September 27 & 28.  This includes all your online chatting and visiting our very important sponsor and exhibitor booths at the Expo Pavilions!  Swipe your Virtual Badge at each exhibitor booth you visit to increase your chances.  See the official Rules & Regulations here.

Watch our quick Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2011 Trailer below for highlights of Speakers, the Agenda and more:

Visit the Virtual Summit website here to see how it all works.

See you online on September 27 & 28!

~ Linda V.